I Am Just Like You
by Victoria Anne Manning
Summary: Our beloved Headwoundrecieving Johnny C. meets someone who might just be as screwed up as he is. I dont own JTHM, or anything of the like. The ALMIGHTY Jhonen owns it. Yes.
1. The Nobodies

As I walked into the local 24/7, I saw a young man standing by the BrainFreezie machine. He was rapidly trying the make the yummy liquid pour into his cup. The damned machine wouldn't let it come out. So, I walked up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, almost smacking me in the head, muttering incoherent words. When he looked at me, he sighed.

"Sorry." He said, and grabbed the cup, heading towards the garbage. "It just seems that I cant get anything at this moment. Nothing wants to work for me. I cant be happy. So much fucking disappointment…" He muttered. I watched him.

"Hey, lemme try." I said, grabbing a cup, and kicking the machine. The clerk on the other side of the store stared at me for a moment, then looked back at his car magazine. The yummy red goo came sloshing out of the spout into the cup. The young man looked at me, eyes wide.

"How'd you do that?" He asked.

"Just kick here…" I pointed with the tip of my boot to a dented area on the metal surface of the machine. He nodded. I handed him the cup of BrainFreezie, and headed out of the store.

I heard his boots following me halfway down the street, so I stopped and turned. He was sipping his drink, staring at me.

"I always walk this way." He said, taking another sip. I nodded, gesturing for him to walk beside me.

"So, what's your name?" I asked. He didn't answer for quite some time.

"Its Johnny." He said, tossing his cup aside, in a nearby garbage can. The park looked inviting.

"Well… I am going to stop here… The stars look mighty pretty tonight.." I said, and turned away from him. "See you around, Johnny."

"May I join you? There really isn't much to do at home…" He asked, grabbing my hand. I nodded. We walked deep into the park, and found a nice, unlittered area, and sat on a bench. I stared up at the sky, and sighed deeply.

"It would be nice to just… fly over them, wouldn't it?" I asked, looking at him. He was staring at me as I said it. I smiled a small smile. He grinned evilly at me. It made me laugh. He just looked away.

"Sorry." I apologised. He didn't look at me. "I am really sorry. I just… like that evil grin of yours. It reminds me of something a close friend of mine would do." I said. He looked at me finally, and smiled, normally. "Now, he wouldn't do that."

"Who is he?" Johnny asked. I shook my head.

"Just… someone from a long time ago. Someone that deserved what he had coming…" I said, staring back up at the stars. "God… it would be excellent to fly over them right now, you know?"

"Yes… I know…" He answered. I stood from the bench, and looked around.  
"I just moved here… What is there to do by ways of fun?" I asked. He stood also, and grabbed my hand.

"Let me grab some things, and I will show you what I do for fun."

"Sure, why not." He led me to his house, which wasn't far from the park.

"Wait here." He said, heading into the house. He came back with a blackish backpack, and a CD walkman.

"We can listen to Beethoven, if you don't mind… I don't really like anything else." He explained. He turned the volume up on high, and Ode to Joy blared out of the little headphones around his neck.

"Where are we going?"

"A little place the city calls 'Café le Prick'. You'll… Like it there." He said, grinning delightedly.

"I'm sure I will." I said, looking around me as we walked down the street.

As we neared the Café, I laughed out loud, realising that Café le Prick was the real name of the café.

"Hey, baby…" One of the men standing outside called to me. I stopped, and turned to look at them. "Yeah, you. Wanna have a good time?"

"Does it involve skewering you on a blade, watching your blood run cold?" I asked, looking at him. The man looked rather confusedly at me, then back at his friends.

"Oh, you're one of those funny ones, eh? Come here, baby."

"You're drunk. Get the fuck away from me." I said, walking away. Johnny pulled me into the café, and smiled at all the people there. Most of them laughed as we walked in. We must have looked like psycho-twins or something. We both wore stripes, black, and big buckle boots. We both also carried backpacks that looked over stuffed.

He set his bag down on an empty table, then stood on the table, waving his arms, trying to get everyone's attention.

"Alright! Kids! I was in here a few months back. It seems that you haven't learned your lesson yet!" He started out. "I don't know any of you by name. But most of you have done SOMETHING to piss me off. So… Your gifts are all in this lovely backpack here…" He pointed at his backpack. He pulled something's out of the backpack, and started throwing daggers and knives at the running bodies. I just sat by him, and watched, amused by the scene. "YOU!" He yelled at one female behind the counter. "You ran into me the other day, and DIDN'T SAY EXCUSE ME! To top it off, you made me SPILL MY BRAINFREEZIE!" He yelled, jumping off the table. "You scum don't deserve to live in this world!" He said, dropping his backpack on the floor. He grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the door. "Maybe this time, you fuckers will learn your lesson!" And he pulled me through the door, running away as fast as possible. I heard and explosion, and looked back.

When we stopped, we were back in the park, sitting on the bench. He was looking at the sky, smiling slightly. Not evilly, just… whimsically. Something about him had changed after 'teaching those fuckers a lesson'. When he did turn to me, I looked away. I had been admiring him for some time before our eyes had met.

"What? Is there something disgusting laying eggs in my cheek?" He asked, scratching at his cheek. I laughed.

"No, just… Looking at you."

"Happens all the time. I guess, I am used to it. But still…" He made a motion of cutting off his head. "Don't fuck with me."

"I never intended to."

"Alright."

"What time is it?" I asked, looking around.

"Who cares."

"My parents probably."

"You have parents who care?" He asked, eying me. "Are you normal?"

"I guess not. Yeah. Like I said, we just moved here from Monterey…"

"Mexico?"

"No, California."

"Oh, that place… been there… Killed some people. Almost got caught too. The only place." He mused.

"Yeah… Tends to happen there. Law enforcement hates kids."

"Guess so."

"So… What now?" I asked, looking at his profile. He had the oddest hair. Two bangs that stuck up in the front like horns, or antenna, and nothing else on his head.

"Want to go back to my place?"

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked, laughing gently. He looked at me, and grinned wickedly.

"Not yet." He said. 


	2. A Place to Rest My Head

"So… quirky place you have here, Johnny." I said, looking around his living room. I was sitting on the couch, he was in the kitchen, fixing some Skettios.

"Yeah… I got away for a while. Wanted to start something new. But something kept bringing me back here. To this city, this house. Damn EVIL FIRE! FUCK!"

"Are you okay?" I called from the couch. He poked his head out from the kitchen, grinning.

"As okay as I will ever be. Just burned myself on the stove. Tends to happen with hot things when you touch them." He laughed out.

"Yeah… that does happen."

You know, he is going to kill you at some point.

Yeah… I know. But, CARPE DIEM! Seize the fucking day, right?

'Fucking' wasn't in the quote, but close enough.

Go away, SHIT.

Go away, Rum.

You infuriate me.

And you do the same for us.

"Are you okay?" Johnny's voice brought me back from the nether reaches of my mind.

"Yeah… Sure… Okay? Yeah I am." I answered, absent minded-like. He handed me a bowl of Skettios.

"How old are you, anyways?"

"Just turned sixteen." I answered.

"Lovely age. I hated sixteen, myself.. But that doesn't mean you need to hate it. Heh." He swallowed a spoonful of Skettios, smiling. "TV?"

"Sure." I answered. He flicked the screen on, and a rather disgusting commercial about SHIT came on. I had to admit that it was pretty fucking funny.

"So… What is your name, oh mysterious BrainFreezie fixer?" Johnny asked me, eating more of his Skettios.

"Rum. My name is Rum."

"Like the drink?" Johnny asked. "Like… 'Where's the rum'?" He laughed out.

"Yeah, like that." I said, smiling. I hadn't touched my Skettios. I was too busy looking around the house.

"How old are you, Johnny?" I asked, looking at him.

"Mid twenties. Don't know my exact age. Hell… I don't even know what the fucking date is anymore."

"April 4th." I answered. He eyed me suspiciously, then looked at the ground.

"What's wrong?"

"It has been a year. A fucking year." He said, under his breath. It was a miracle that I understood him.

"A year?"

"I tried to kill this girl last year. I really liked her. She seemed to really like me. I just snapped. Kinda… gave in, and tried to kill her. 'Immortalize the moment' is the proper term that I used. I was happy. Utterly happy. Kind of feeling like I do right now." He explained, putting his bowl on the ground near his feet.

"Happiness. It is over rated, in my book. I mean… Happiness. Why seek happiness? Seeking just causes disappointment. I learned a few months back that happiness finds you at the oddest of moments… Kind of like love." I said, poking at my Skettios.

"You going to eat those?"

"At some point, I will." I said, without thinking.

"Want me to walk you home? It is around three in the morning… Not the safest time to be walking around."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay here. Your couch is comfy…" I said, snuggling into the cushions. He smiled slightly, and nodded.

"Sure. Stay. Don't mind the screams." He said, standing. He walked out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with a tattered blanket, and pillow. "I don't use these nearly as much as I should. You can use them tonight."

"Thanks."

"Goodnight. I'll be downstairs if you need me. Just… scream out 'NNY!' if you need anything."

"Nny?" I asked. He turned around.

"Yes?"

"Just… I like that nickname. It suits you." I snuggled deeper into the couch, pulled out my own CD walkman from my backpack. He smiled, and walked to the door leading to what must be the basement. I turned on the music, and Revis started blaring in my ears. It put me to sleep instantly. No matter how much I fought it off, my eyes close, and I fell victim to the nightmares.

I woke to Johnny shaking me.

"You were screaming. A lot louder than the football team I have five levels below the ground." Johnny said, standing back, dusting himself off. Blood spattered his shirt and pants.

"Sorry… Nightmares. I don't like to sleep. It just… comes and goes all the time." I said.

"Yeah. It has been at least… a month? since I last closed my eyes to sleep." He mused out loud, laughing slightly.

"What time is it?"

"Six AM. Why?" He asked.

"I have school in two hours. First day at a new school. Goody." I said, sitting up. He sat next to me, and smiled.

"Yeah. I hated school. I dropped out in Junior year. Stupid, yes. But I couldn't be there anymore."

"Yeah. I dropped out a couple months ago, but I was guilted into going back. Damn parents." I said, standing now.

"Can I take you there? To school I mean." He said, awkwardly. I laughed at his shyness.

"Sure. It is pretty fucking far, so it would be idiotic of me to walk there." I said. "Fuck."

"What?" He asked, looking up a little bit, peering at me with one eye.

"I don't have a change of clothes, and these are pretty blood-spattered." I said, looking down at my black and white shirt, and pants. The boots were alright. But everything else was spotted with brown-red dots. "They probably wont notice it though. This is alright for now."

"No. I have a pair of pants and a shirt you may borrow." Johnny said, and stood. He walked away, and came back with a black shirt, and a pair of black jeans.

"I don't wear the jeans. You can have them. But I like the shirt. They never noticed the cuss words before, so they wont now." The shirt read 'SMILE YOU FUCKER'. The smiley face smiled at me, and I laughed.

"I like it. Where's your bathroom?" Johnny led me to the bathroom, and opened the door. "Thanks."

"Sure." And he walked away. He seemed preoccupied. I'd ask him later. I closed the door, and stripped, then dressed once more, and was out of the bathroom in moments. Johnny stood from the couch, and awed at me. My hair was up in a pony tale, so it looked short from the front view.

"Creepy." He muttered, looking away.

"What?" I said, looking down at myself.  
"You look… Like me." He said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I made that connection last night at the 24/7." I laughed out gently.

"Its seven AM. You need food… Care for a gaunt over to the 24/7?"

"Why not." I said, grabbing my jacket, and following him out the door.

The 24/7 was as empty as I had ever seen it. Seven AM doesn't find many customers. Johnny bought a big box of Doughnuts, and some Doughnuts from the glass thingy. He didn't like caffeine all that much, so I didn't even ask. We bought our food, and went back to his house.

"Its 7:30... What now?" He asked, glaring at the clock. I looked at him.

"We should get going. I will eat on the way there." I said. We headed out once more, and into his little grey-blue car.

We sped through the streets, and even took some back alleys because of traffic. We got there in ten minutes - normally, it would have taken twenty.

"Thanks, Johnny. My parents are probably going to be here after school to pick me up… So… I wont need a ride home." I said, before he could offer. He looked kind of sad, then he grinned evilly. He got a glint in his eye - the same one he had when he killed those people at the Café le Prick. I backed away slightly. He turned his head to me, eyes narrowed.

"Remember me. You'll be seeing me again." And he drove off all fast like. I headed into school, slightly afraid of what he meant. 


End file.
